Say Goodbye to Your Immortal
by Minecrotica Duo
Summary: In the aftermath of Elena's sacrifice, some she left behind meet a different kind of vampire. A tense exchange between the two species ensues, with desire and hatred for the other vying for control of each vampire's heart. [Nessie/Bonnie] [Damon/Bella] [Carlisle/Caius] [Esme/Emmett] [Leah/OC] [Nessie/Caroline] [Caroline/Stefan] Complete.
1. Chapter 1: Enchanted Sleep

Ch. 1: Enchanted Sleep

 _This was it. Elena was really doing this._ Damon stared, half-disbelieving, at Elena's comatose body lying perfectly posed in her coffin. _She almost looks like she's sleeping, tucked tight between satin cushions in bed._ If only that were true, then my friends and I would have nothing to grieve. _I wish you weren't such a damn martyr, Elena; I wish I didn't have to be the hand that made you a martyr._

A year passed. Jeremy returned to hunting vampires. Alaric broke off from the supernatural world; it was too much for him to lose both of the women he married to it. Matt put all his energy into becoming the man he wanted to become, one who protects ordinary people from the very dangers that had menaced him since sophomore year. Only Bonnie, Caroline, Stefan, and especially Damon Salvatore stayed where they were when Mordecai died. Damon despaired at the love he'd lost, Bonnie regretted her role in Mordecai's escape and its consequences, Stefan longed to release his brother from his burdens, and Caroline was both concerned for her friends, especially the three left behind like her, and uncertain in her commitment to her relationship with Stefan.


	2. Chapter 2: A Chance Encounter

Ch. 2: A Chance Encounter

Caroline insisted that they go and work through their grief on the one year anniversary by having a life-affirming get-together in the woods by the graveyard. Only the four stuck in a rut after Elena's sacrifice went. She played dance music on a battery-operated boom box, and they reminisced on their shared experiences and the nature of Elena's sacrifice.

Bonnie told Caroline," it's almost like Elena gave up everything and got everything at the same time; she can support her friends with all she has and still get away from it all, all the pressure of helping her friends"

Stefan came over and sat down beside them, "I have faith that when the spell's purpose is fulfilled, Elena will awaken to a new life as full of opportunities as the one she had when she first got involved with me."

As the heartwarming speeches dragged on, Damon wandered off into the woods with his bottle of scotch. He tilted his head way back to take a deep swig, and caught a glimpse of something moving at vamp speed up high through the trees. Damon responded with a "What the fuck? What fresh bottle of hell just spilled in my lap?" called out to the seemingly empty woods in his line of sight.

"I don't think any kind of hell has gotten on you," responded the source of the speedy blur Damon had caught sight of. Damon turned around to find him in his blind spot. "I'm Edward Cullen."

"Ok," Damon continued, "Why exactly are you volunteering this?"

"I had the good fortune to have observed your party back over by the cemetery. I couldn't help but see what you are," explained Edward.

"And that is?" prompted Damon.

"A vampire, as am I," said Edward, "I had hoped to contact you to open a friendly and productive relationship with the other members of both our parties present from the beginning, but since I had been seen it would be rude of me to run away without speaking to you."

"Peachy," said Damon, "why don't you go ahead and get your pals while I go warn my friends that you're coming."

 _Why don't I indeed?_ Edward immediately vamp speeded to the campsite where he had left Bella and a fully-grown Renesmee. They were setting up the equipment they'd need to collect bloodbags from the game he and Jacob were hunting to supply the family in their forthcoming new home. They had stayed in Forks long enough to need to leave to conceal their agelessness and were moving on. Bella was just finishing setting up their conjugal tent an appropriate distance from Jacob and Renesmee's, and Renesmee was setting the last bag full of blood she obtained from a doe Jacob had recently caught into a cooler.

Jacob stood up from his log seat by the fire he had just set. Edward spoke to Jacob. "I've found other vampires."

"What does this mean?" responded Jacob.

"I'm not sure. He was very rude; I didn't even get his name, but he was celebrating the life of one of his friends with another male vampire and two females, we should approach respectfully and find out who they are."

"Fine then," responded Jacob, "We're done with what we're doing here today and can afford to go check them out."

Bella smiled. She liked meeting other vampires on friendly terms; some vampires she'd met that way had saved her life by saving her daughter's life. Renesmee secured the cooler lid closed and shut it in their car to keep the blood fresh and safe from scavengers. Jacob, Renesmee, and Bella follow Edward to the other group of vampires' party.


	3. Chapter 3: Me Tarzan, Me Come in Peace

Ch. 3: Me Tarzan, Me Come in Peace

Damon returned to his friends and immediately spoke to Bonnie in front of everyone else. "I just came upon some random other vampire in the woods, he was swinging through the treetops like Tarzan and then snuck up on me to deliver a friendly hello." Damon caught his breath. "And get this, apparently he was spying in on our grieving process. He called himself Edward Cullen, like the character, and then ran off to tell his compatriots and then come back here with them. I don't know about you but I feel creeped out and vaguely violated. What do you think?"

Bonnie responded, "I doubt this vampire is who he says he is, but we do need to talk to them to find out who they really are and what to do about it."

Caroline said, "Good plan; if they're committed to being their characters it should be simple enough to send them away, we know their weaknesses."

Stefan spoke, "Everyone calm down. They're already here. Slowly turn and look where I'm looking." The others turned as slowly and calmly towards the tall trees behind them that Stefan had happened to be facing, and saw four supernatural creatures, two men and two women.

Edward stepped beyond his fellows and approached the group, as did Stefan. "Hello, my brother tells me that you're Edward Cullen."

"He is correct." Edward didn't look overtly threatening to Stefan, but the circumstances of their meeting were just so suspicious that he found his completely polite and correct manner creepy anyway. Stefan wondered if he were actually the character in the books.

"I'm Stefan Salvatore, this is my brother Damon and our friends Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes." Edward remained perfectly composed throughout the introduction, which made Stefan think he might be sincere. He didn't look forward to what Damon would make of Twilight being real once he decided to start talking again.

Edward responded in proper form, "These are my wife Isabella Cullen, my daughter Renesmee and her husband and my son-in-law Jacob Black. We are in these woods stocking up on animal blood to ease our transition to our new home in Blacksburg. I was naturally curious to come upon more of my own kind. Since we intend to move into your great state, I was interested in opening up a relationship with you so we both can live well together."

"I don't see why we can't get to know each other better," responded Stefan, "once we get a better idea of each others' intentions we can move on to more concrete arrangements." Stefan gestured to his friends behind him that they should feel free to approach, and Edward motioned for his party to approach Stefan's. The two groups faced each other in the middle by their representatives. The bright moonlight sparkled off the Cullen vampires.


	4. Ch 4: I May Have Seen You on the Screen

Ch. 4: I May Have Seen You on the Screen

"We meet again," said Damon to Edward, "so you're really the character in the book and movie franchise?"

"Not really," said Edward, "so you're really like the character in the TV and book series."

"Touché," Damon dropped the subject.

Bonnie approached the pair, "now that you're done embarrassing yourself, Damon, I'd like to speak to Edward"

"Sure," said Damon, "I'll go talk to someone else." He walked away.

Bonnie addressed Edward, "We both know enough about each other from our respective fictional representations, so I'll get down to business. My friends and your family are likely different types of vampire; I'd like to investigate our differences and find out if we can make anything useful of them."

Edward gave a quick response, "I don't think we should get into this type of relationship so quickly. The kind of research you're suggesting involves sharing quite sensitive materials, with which I am not yet ready to entrust you."

"If you're not up to investigating physical samples," continued Bonnie, "we could start with lore. My friends' vampire species was created by a witch who wanted to make her family strong enough to withstand their enemies. How did your species come to be?"

"This information is very obscure to me," began Edward. Bonnie gave the briefest flash of a superior smile before controlling her expression. Edward continued, "We came to be like very few other species. We are the product of a virus that immeasurably changes us for the privilege of using our bodies to survive and reproduce. Anything approaching the concrete origin story you have would be kept secret by the oldest of us. I don't know it."


	5. Chapter 5: Darling Renesmee

Ch. 5: Darling Renesmee

Stefan and Damon joined Bonnie and Edward from one direction, and Renesmee, Bella, and Caroline joined them from another direction. Renesmee was laughing at something Caroline had said, and Bella was more tagging along after her daughter. Caroline turned to Stefan and said, "You wouldn't believe how charming this young lady is."

"I would," said Jacob from where he had been standing still and unnoticed through all the drama, "In fact, I experience it every day." He smiled and stretched out a hand for Renesmee, who took it with hers. Caroline and Damon moved in front of Stefan to face Edward and Jacob, who stood with Renesmee behind and between them with Bella behind and off to the side. Damon spoke first.

"Defensive all of a sudden, are we?"

"Why shouldn't we be defensive?" Jacob said, "We have no reason to believe you have good intentions of any kind towards us. All you've done is posture for moral superiority."

"I could say the same of you," retorted Damon, "especially artfully-disheveled hero-hair over there, you're all out to push yourselves as the better vampires."

"And God forbid you let a woman take a stand," added Caroline, "You can come out from behind them, Nessie"

Nessie opened her mouth as though she was about to say something, but her mother cut her off, "That's enough of this, we'll be as confrontational as we want to be: and stop calling my darling Renesmee by the Loch Ness monster's name!"

"Indeed," Edward spoke calmly but forcefully. Bella fell silent. "We have reached an impasse. This is no longer a productive discussion. We should part ways now"

"I agree," Stefan said, matching Edward's tone, "come along Damon." Damon sent a parting glare towards Edward and the rest of the other group as they vamp speeded away before he followed his brother out of the woods.


	6. Chapter 6: Tuesday's Recriminations

Ch. 6: Tuesday's Recriminations

Almost a week passed since the first encounter. The Cullens had been out camping and foraging for blood for almost a fortnight when there was another encounter between the two groups of vampires. Damon was wandering in the woods; his binge drinking was on the brink of making Stefan do something about his emotions, so Damon was drinking in secret. The woods and solitude concealed his anguish from any acknowledgement or criticism.

Damon sat down under an oak tree, making his liquor last as long as he could; his thoughts ran in circles. He dwelled on the loss of Elena. _Why did I have to have a hand in it? Goddamn it, Kai, I wish I could kill you all over again. It would give me something better to obsess about, over and over, in my head._

"You know what," Damon announced to the empty woods, "I'm in no state to drive." _Anything to distract myself._ He got up and hung his car keys off a conveniently low bare twig on the oak tree. "There, where I can find you again." Damon snorted in humorless laughter and began to return to his seat and liquor at the base of the tree.

"Goddamn it," said Damon flatly, "it's you again." Edward was standing near the tree. He looked up from his disapproving glare at Damon's bottle.

"We meet again," said Edward.

"Indeed," stated Damon.

"I've come to apologize," continued Edward, "since I've gotten to know what's in your head, I've come to realize that your reaction to me is only natural."

"What reaction," Damon stepped closer to Edward.

"Your entirely understandable envy of my situation," Edward explained, "here I am, married to the woman with whom I fell in love and living with the fully-grown and happy child we had together. It must eat at you to know that you can't have the same privilege."

"You know what," said Damon, "I'm noticing something here; how do you know this much about me?"

Edward stared at Damon for a moment, then responded, "I wasn't completely honest about my capabilities."

"That much I figured," snipped Damon.

"I can't exactly read your mind," Edward continued, "I don't know what that means about our kinds, but I do get impressions from you." _How much should I tell him?_

 _Good God._ Damon stared at Edward. _Why does he stare like that? Shouldn't he blink or something?_ "Are you saying you're telepathic?"

Edward blinked, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Are you for real?" Damon took another step towards Edward. "So then our whole little shindig over there about how we can cooperate to better understand ourselves was a sham, wasn't it!" He took another step. "I can't believe you. Snatching my damn hell ass thoughts out of my brain." The veins in Damon's face bulged out as he once again stepped towards Edward.

Damon shoved his hand into Edward's chest. His hand grasped Edward's heart. Damon sneered, "And here's for your concern." He squeezed Edward's heart and tore it from his chest. _There, my secrets are safe._

Damon heard rustling off in the bushes. "Edward, Why didn't you tell me that you found something?" Jacob called from afar. Jacob noticed Damon and said, "Oh, it's you." He took a double take, "What have you done? Why are you holding that? Is that Edward's heart?" Damon made eye contact with Jacob.

"Yes," he said, and crushed the organ in his hand, before dropping it onto the forest floor.

Jacob looked on in horror. _What has he done to my Nessie's father?_ He shifted and lunged at Damon. Damon neatly sidestepped Jacob's hurdle at him, sending him crashing to the ground. He seized the opportunity of his opponent's disadvantage and threw himself at Jacob; Damon swiftly broke Jacob's neck.

"Oh hell," murmured Damon, "I've gotta burn the evidence."

Black smoke drifted from the pyre through the forest's canopy. Damon retrieved his keys, feeling colder and more sober than he had since the moment what happened to him and Elena set in. He laughed to himself: _the way I set them on the fire, it was like they were fucking._ "I'm afraid I've lost my liquor," Damon gestured at where the bottle lay broken from the confrontation, "I'll need to go home and replenish." He bowed theatrically and left.


	7. Chapter 7: That Ashen Smell

Ch. 7: That Ashen Smell

Damon opened the door of the Salvatore Mansion to find his brother Stefan waiting for him by the fireplace. "Damon, we need to talk," Stefan began, "your behavior has been increasingly erratic lately and I need you to keep out of your secretive, self-destructive habits right now. Why do you smell like burned corpse?"

"Geez, Stefan," snipped Damon, "tell me what to do right off the bat. I meant to let you in, but now that you ordered me to I think I won't"

There was a tense moment, then Damon relented to his brother. "I've done something; Edward found me in the woods again and he read my mind. I just couldn't let him get away with my thoughts."

"You killed him, Damon?"

"And his son-in-law," Damon turned away from his brother briefly, embarrassed, "I torched the bodies, no one will find them."

"Dammit, Damon," snapped Stefan, "They have a family, a family that is entirely capable of retaliating against us. I'd say I can't believe you'd do such a thing, but I know better. We need to go do damage control with Nessie and Bella; hopefully we can get them to support a nonviolent resolution with Edward's father and siblings."

"How do you know Edward has any more family?"

"You got me, Damon, I spoke to Edward without you. I needed to smooth over how our first meeting went. He was entirely reasonable."

"Dammit Stefan, I thought we were over the whole keeping-stuff-from-each-other thing."

"I thought we were too, Damon. Stay here while I deal with this." Stefan got up and put on his jacket. "Seriously. Let me handle this, brother." He swiftly left the room.

"Whatever you say, brother," Damon said to the empty room. _No way I'm going to let him deal with my problem alone._ Damon texted Bonnie and Caroline what happened. _Now who's talking behind who's back, huh?_ Bonnie texted Damon back with an interesting offer. Damon picked up something Bonnie had put together and then followed Stefan to the Cullens' camp and found the apology was going badly.

Bella was wailing despite Nessie and Stefan's attempts to calm her. She jumped at Stefan, screaming, "You killed my mate, my husband, and my only love!" Stefan swung Bella to the ground and Damon brought out what Bonnie gave him.

"Hey, Stefan," Damon called.

"Damon, I told you I'd handle this," said Stefan.

"I got a super-strength creature binding rope from Bonnie" Damon responded, "She thought we could use something like this." He approached his brother and the prone Bella, and bound her up while she continued to scream at them. Nessie looked vaguely embarrassed and stood to the side.

"Now what do we do?" Damon looked to the voice. It was Nessie. She glanced back and forth between the Salvatore brothers.

"I can't believe my luck", went Nessie, "I grew up under the shadow of my parents' and my intended husband's expectations; you see, moments after my birth my future husband imprinted on me. It formed a bond to me fastened unfathomably deep in his soul, but I, being not a Quileute shape-shifter, am incapable of bonding with him in the same manner. Look at me!" Nessie stepped forward from the inobtrusive place she had been standing while Stefan and Damon had been binding Bella.

Bella began to sob steadily into the floor. Renesmee continued, "Although I appear to be a fully grown woman, I am in fact only 7 years old. I am born of the union of a vampire father and a then-human mother, so my body matured to its present form in the time it would normally take for a child to grow up enough to be able to walk and talk." Nessie anxiously paced and pulled at her hair. "I have been under the control of my parents, my grandparents, and especially my father and later my husband for my whole life. I want to live!" Nessie stopped and steadily faced the two Salvatore brothers. "I'm leaving them with you."

"And this one can't run off to spread panic," said Stefan.

"So we go home with both of them until we think of a way to deal with the rest of them," finished Damon.


	8. Chapter 8: The Dogs of War

Ch. 8: The Dogs of War

The Quileutes gathered; there had been news. Leah spoke to the gathered people: "Since this will be news to some of you, I'll start by telling it to you all. Last night, while I was in my wolf form patrolling the edge of our land, as is customary to make sure there are no Cold Ones encroaching on us," _even though the Cullens had promised that they were on the way out of town and out of state. They had attracted the wrong kind of attention from others of their kind before and there was no telling if the Cullens' absence would guarantee the absence of more trouble. They had been on the edge of a lot of attention in the aftermath of the Cullens' spats with other Cold Ones and the eerie coincidence of the book series. If we had any reason to connect Stefanie Meyer with any of the Cullens, there would have been hell to pay._ "I felt Jacob in his wolf form. He had shifted in a rage, and attacked a strange Cold One. Jacob attacked rashly and was promptly killed."

Leah looked around at the attendees, seeing expressions of interest on the people's faces. She continued, "We have a choice here. Jacob had willingly left the protection of the tribe when he followed his wife to live with her family. Carlisle and Edward agreed that once Jacob had left Forks it would be their responsibility to see to Jacob's wellbeing. We could still send someone out to investigate the circumstances of his death if we decide that we might do something about it, but it happened far beyond our base of power and there is likely little we can do."

Leah opened up the floor to commentary, and the Elders spoke, as did many of the shape-shifters. The tribe spent hours in discussion, which ended with a consensus decision. Sam said the agreement: "we've decided," Leah drifted off in thought, _I remember how heartbroken I used to be over him; Sam used to mean the world to me, but now that I have imprinted myself, I have a better attachment to replace the one I had with him. I've become a brand new person, even the affection I lost for Jacob when he married that child in a grown woman's body is insignificant. I have everything I used to want: I'm respected in the tribe and will marry the man I imprinted on._ "Jacob died due to his own poor choices. He chose to leave the tribe when he married, he chose to disband his own pack when he was no longer willing to hold the responsibility of being an Alpha, and he chose to attack his killer. The tribe will not intervene."


	9. Chapter 9: I Had a Vision

Ch. 9: I Had a Vision

Alice gasped and dropped the decorative vase she was carrying to its place, drawing the attention of the family members she had been setting up the new house with. Jasper was the first to reach her. He took her hand and at the same time reached out to her with his ability and calmed her. Esme and Carlisle entered the open-plan living room/kitchen from the enclosed laundry room on the farther side of the 2-piece bathroom to the right of the open area. They had been in the process of stocking the room with the necessary cleaning products when they heard Alice's distress.

"What is it Alice?" Esme asked.

"I've had a terrible vision. I'll describe it to you when Emmett and Rosalie get down here; I don't want to repeat it"

Hearing Alice say this, Emmett hopped down from the top of the open staircase to the entranceway part of the open area downstairs to save the delay of walking down the stairs. Rosalie followed down the stairs holding a manila envelope full of the family's identification papers for their new identities. She had gone with Emmett and Esme to obtain them, but had not as of yet had the opportunity to distribute them to the family members who were home now.

She joined her husband facing Alice, posed against the granite countertop, slightly farther away than Esme and Carlisle who stood against the granite-topped peninsula on the opposite side of Alice, who sat on a chair in the casual dining area, with Jasper still standing before her and holding her hand. Light beamed in through the set of windows that took up all the blank space on the back wall. The windows showed an unobstructed view of the National Park that the house backed onto.

Alice finally spoke. "I had a vision. I saw Edward and Jacob die."


	10. Chapter 10: He Was Handsome

Ch. 10: He Was Handsome

The Cullens were shocked.

"What exactly did you see?" Carlisle asked.

"I saw Edward meet another vampire in the forest. They argue and the other vampire attacks and kills him. Jacob finds the other vampire and Edward's body, attacks him and is killed himself." Alice's face broke out into a sad expression as Jasper lost hold of her emotional state for a moment while the news hit him. The Cullens exchanged shocked and grieved expressions.

"What did this vampire look like?" Snapped Emmett, "We need to find him and what's left of Edward."

"Should we even try to find him? I don't know how one goes about prosecuting another vampire for murder." Rosalie took a gasp of breath before continuing to speak. "I doubt we should involve the Volturi, but I don't know how else we could legitimately bring consequences to our Edward's killer! Who made our Nessie and our Bella widows!"

Jasper continued to focus his mood-altering ability on Alice, who remained calm and gazed into her husband's eyes.

Carlisle broke though the chaos of Rosalie and Emmett's confused calls for retaliation with his voice. "Alice," he called, Rosalie and Emmett fell silent, "what did the strange vampire look like?"

The other Cullens all looked to Alice. "The vampire was tall, dark-haired, and blue-eyed. He wore a leather jacket and dark skinny jeans; he was very handsome, but he was drinking and slightly crazed." Alice took a steadying breath and continued, the shudder of emotion passed from her to Jasper. "I heard him talk to himself about getting back to Mystic Falls after he was finished burning the bodies."

"Then I have a place to find him," said Jasper.

"Indeed," hummed Carlisle, "I agree with Rosalie that we should avoid contact with the Volturi as much as possible. I can't be sure how they would react to our situation, and involving them would put them in a position to attempt to poach any of us for our talents, I'm sure Caius would love another opportunity to obtain Alice and her ability."

He paused a moment to steady himself emotionally, "Jasper," Jasper turned to him in acknowledgement, "Go to Mystic Falls, it must be near where Edward was hunting to replenish our blood stocks, make contact with Nessie and Bella, and find out the circumstances surrounding Edward and Jacob's deaths. Avoid coming into contact with the other group of vampires. I'll decide what we'll do once I find out more about the situation."


	11. Chapter 11: How's Your Family?

Ch. 11: How's Your Family?

Bella impotently thumped around in the trunk as Damon drove his car; Stefan and Nessie shared Stefan's car on the way back to the Salvatore Mansion. Damon glanced at the trunk in the rearview mirror he yelled back, "Dammit, Bella, if you break my trunk with your infernal sockhopping back there I'll pull this car over and make you regret it." The thumping stopped emanating from the trunk and muted ranting intermixed with sobbing replaced it. Damon pulled over the car and opened the trunk. Bella fell silent and looked up at Damon. "What's wrong with you, Goddammit, I know you don't like to be kidnapped, but why do have to antagonize me like this? Shut up, you're annoying me. Freak out quietly." Before Bella could respond, Damon shut the trunk on her. For the rest of the drive to the mansion, Bella was obediently silent.

In Stefan's car, Nessie sat shotgun. She spoke to Stefan, "What's your family like?" Stefan glanced over at her and saw that she was asking sincerely before returning his eyes to the road and answering.

"It's complicated. The other vampire who helped me with your mother is my brother Damon. He and I have a long history of sniping at each other, but now we're both making a concerted effort to work for each other's benefit."

"How long have you been a vampire?"

"I was turned with my brother shortly after the end of the Civil War. Our father was organizing a massacre of all the vampires in town, and in his quest for vampires he discovered that we were both having affairs with a vampire. We tried to help her escape the massacre, but our father shot us to death. We returned as vampires ourselves, and I killed my father in retaliation." Stefan gazed off into the middle distance and let his mind drift on thoughts of his family for a moment, before returning to the driving and the conversation in the present. "I also recently found out that my mother became a vampire and formed a new family of vampires without any of her old family members' knowledge." He glanced over at Nessie again. She was entranced. "So, how was your family?"

Nessie took a moment to collect her thoughts and said, "I was the centre of my family's attention, but not for reasons that I would keep liking. My grandfather Carlisle was fascinated by me as a doctor. He liked to investigate my nature as a half-vampire, half-human, and even though he had many scruples about how he could test and experiment with me, as soon as I was mature enough to reflect on such things I began to feel unloved for myself. His attention seemed more like the attention of a researcher to their pet project, and it soured on me, although nothing external changed. He eventually ran out of tests to do. My grandmother Esme very much followed his lead."

"My aunts and uncles are somewhat distant. They all love my mother and father deeply, but I think I'm too different from them for them to get me enough to really bond with me. My aunt Rosalie still feels satisfied that she was able to keep me alive despite the rest of the family's desire to abort me when my mother's pregnancy threatened her life. It turned out that she just needed to consume blood to stop me from draining hers from inside the womb. I make her feel like a winner, and as soon as I realized that about her affection, it was never the same."

"My parents always seemed to love me best. Then I found out that my father's first reaction to learning I existed was to attempt to arrange for my mother to abort me. I then clung to my mother as the parent whom I could trust with the treasure of my love. This lasted until an epiphany I had only about a month ago, when we were packing for our move here. I saw my mother and my two uncles, Bella was walking alongside my uncle Jasper, carrying boxes and casually talking. She was clearly enjoying his charm. My uncle Emmett was darting past them, back and forth, outdoing them by working much more efficiently. He took a great glee in the action, doing good for those he loved with simple, unadulterated physical acts. I saw her eye drift from the abstract, cultivated charm of her conversation with Jasper to gaze at the raw energy of Emmett." Once again, Nessie gathered her thoughts.

"My mother got everything she wanted from her family. She had everything to admire in a man in her husband and brothers-in-law. Edward had the ideal brain, Jasper the ideal heart, and Emmett the ideal of muscular strength. She got a father-in-law that was everything good in a patriarch that her own father wasn't, and a mother-in-law that was everything in a matriarch that her own mother wasn't. But the kicker was this," Nessie paused to steady herself, "Bella Cullen got a daughter who was much like her,but excelled in everything that she admired and desired for herself yet still struggled with. Where my mother has always been awkward and had difficulty connecting with people, I have always been eloquent and effortlessly make connections. Where Bella has the special ability to block out others' abilities, I have the ability to communicate in visions with anyone, yes, even with my mother through her shield. I am the perfect version of her, and that's why she loves me."

Nessie turned away to look out the window, clearly exhausted of the topic. Stefan didn't press.


	12. Chapter 12: Nessie's Choice

Ch. 12: Nessie's Choice

The cars pulled up to their spots in the Salvatore mansion's garage. Damon picked Bella out from the trunk and took her to the cell, casually informing Stefan and Nessie. Stefan nodded in approval. He didn't have a better idea of where to put her.

Nessie went with Stefan to the main room. They found Bonnie and Caroline waiting for them. Caroline took a shrill tone, "Stefan Salvatore, how did you lose your sense like this! It was bad enough that Damon ruined our hard-earned truce with the Cullens family, but why did you have to pile on with the poor dead guys' widows? Damon did as Damon does, but it's not like you compound his crapups! What the hell!"

Caroline paused for breath, and before she could start up again Nessie spoke, "I know you have your heart in the right place for your companions and yourself; the way our little enclaves of vampiredom have interacted puts both of them at risk, which must be a great inconvenience to you." Nessie paused and noticed that Bonnie had appeared behind Caroline from the hall leading to the entrance to the basement. She made eye contact to acknowledge the new arrival, then continued with her speech: "When I lived with the other Cullens, I lived in a cage with bars made of air. Everything I was and had been for my whole life was the result of my family members' actions."

Nessie gauged her audience's reaction before continuing. Caroline was stunned, Stefan and Bonnie were intently focused on the speech, and Damon had come up from locking Bella in the cell and just joined them. "I was born as I am from my parent's decision to consummate their marriage before my mother was turned. Because of this decision, I cannot truly know my own nature. I am seven years old, you wouldn't know from my body, but I am. My grandfather had a brain scan performed on me last year. It showed that I had a brain most similar to an average woman in her mid-twenties."

"I am a young woman with the limited experiences of a child, with one exception; when the brain scan proved I had the mental capacity of an adult, I was married to Jacob. Jacob had imprinted on me as an infant, which for his species of shapeshifter means that he fell as deeply in love with me as he was capable of loving. As I am not a Quileute shapeshifter like him, I am incapable of returning his affection completely."

"I did a lot of soul-searching over my year of marriage, and I have come to the conclusion that as much as I loved my family as a child, I hate them as an adult. I was a pawn to them, the perfection of my mother, the perfect object of study for my grandfather and of affection for my aunts, uncles, and grandmother, and a victory trophy for their accomplishment of keeping me alive against the Volturi. This is the best thing that's happened to me in my entire life; you've rescued me."

No one knew what to say about that. Nessie got a room in the Salvatore mansion and settled in. Bella settled in the cell. Everyone searched themselves for answers to the question of how to handle the remaining Cullens at large.


	13. Chapter 13: Sad Bone

Ch. 13: Sad Bone

A week of tense stasis passed. Nessie and Bonnie grew close, bonding over a shared history of empowering themselves with their powers and interest in learning about the nature of their two species of vampire. Stefan and Caroline also grew closer around Nessie, her effortless charm attracting them like moths to a bright porch light. After she'd settled in to living at the Salvatore Mansion, Nessie developed a desire to consummate her relationship with her new vampire enclave.

Nessie considered her options: she could go and break Damon out of his depression with her love, but that would be what Bella would expect her to do, so that's out; she could try the other Salvatore, but he didn't seem into falling into bed with her so soon after being forced to kidnap Bella; that left Bonnie or Caroline. Caroline still had reservations about how she had come here and what she was, but Bonnie, having a similar life experience, respected how Nessie had handled hers. Nessie had a decision.

She walked out from her room to the fireplace room of the Salvatore mansion, where she found Bonnie sitting with Damon and Stefan. Nessie took a seat and turned her attention to their conversation.

"Great timing, Ness." Bonnie looked towards her as Damon spoke.

"It is?"

"Yes," continued Bonnie, "we've been talking about how to handle the Cullens family. But since none of us know them well, we've pretty much been spinning our wheels here. Do you have any ideas about how they'd react to missing you?"

"I expect that they'll be unwilling to commit themselves immediately. Carlisle prefers to settle his family into each new place and establish them as normal people at first. He'll be hesitant to take everyone to handle something unknown like what's happening now. He wouldn't want to look suspicious." Nessie paused and thought some more.

"He'll probably send someone to find out what's going on; Alice or Jasper most likely."

"Are you sure they won't come in force?" Stefan asked.

"As sure as I can," said Nessie, "it's not in Carlisle's nature to initiate a fight, and the others follow his lead."

"Really?" said Damon.

"Really," replied Nessie, "he'll do almost anything to avoid a fight."

Caroline walked into the room. "So then all we have to do is head off the scout," finished Stefan.

"Finally got an answer?" called Caroline, as she approached the group.

"Exactly," said Damon, "I'll be off."

Stefan explained, "Nessie thinks that the Cullens will send a scout, someone we can begin to deescalate this situation with."

"That gels with my impression of the family members I met. Half of whom are now dead." Caroline dropped off speaking, and Stefan interjected.

"I know this isn't what any of us wanted. Let's go talk about it." The two of them walked out of the room. Stefan led the way out the door and into the woods. They stopped in a picturesque meadow. The sun shone and glimmered off Stefan's skin. He turned to see that Caroline had a strange expression on her face. She told him, "I know I told you I had mixed feelings about being with you, and it was true, but now my doubts are mercifully silent. Please, Stefan Salvatore, make love to me."

Stefan obliged her. They made sweet and tender love in the softly lit meadow. However, the stone on Caroline's daylight ring caught on a wildflower and got pulled off as the lovers changed position. Caroline was scalded by the sun in the brief moment between her ring slipping off and her immediate retrieval and repositioning of the ring. The interruption was momentary, but nevertheless the mood was lost. Caroline ran into the woods, lamenting her fate in neurotic ramblings in the shade. Stefan looked after her, stunned and saddened. He drew a frowny face on the tip of his penis before finishing himself off. It was lonely.


	14. Chapter 14: For and Against Love

Ch. 14: For and Against Love

Nessie and Bonnie stayed in the main room of the Salvatore mansion. The fire cast a warm glow over their bodies. Their eyes met. "I can express love to anyone," said Nessie.

"And I hold love as the highest good in the world."

The two came together and embraced, each travelling the same distance to the other. "I wasn't sure you returned my affection," was the first thing Bonnie said after their first passionate kiss, "but I am now."

"As you should be," said Nessie as she unbuttoned her top. They fell together to the ground, and made love before the fire. It began tender and sincere, but as they went on it got silly. Nessie attached a strapon to her forehead, and Bonnie laughed at the fuckicorn.

Damon had left the group for a protracted mope in the basement. He sat down the hall from Bella in the cell, ruminating on how far he'd fallen without Elena to shine forth like a burning torch to guide him. _I'm wrecked without her. Doing the right thing means nothing without her love._ Damon heard Bella mutedly sobbing from down the hall. He walked to the bars in the door to see Bella lying paralyzed in the fetal position. Her sobs died down, but she stayed exactly still on her spot of floor in the middle of the cell.

Damon glared at her in contempt. _Goddamn it, why doesn't she move? She's exactly where and how I left her._ "Wow. We, by which I mean you, are really lacking in the initiative department. I remember you violently complaining about going into the fetal position yesterday. You were like, 'It's demeaning, I'm an adult', but here you are, hours after I finished forcing you, and you're still there."

Bella picked up her head and looked as if she were about to speak, but Damon cut her off, "Bella, I'm beginning to see why that domineering dbag of a husband you had fell for you. You're a sucker for a hard and strong man."

With that last piece of wit, Damon grabbed Bella by the hair with one hand and posed her body, still confined by the binding rope, to his liking. Bella hadn't bothered to fix her clothes since his last visit, so there was no obstacle to penetration.


	15. Chapter 15: Saved by the Bell

Ch. 15: Saved by the Bell

Jasper found the campsite easily enough. It looked as if it'd been abandoned for a few days. Some wildlife had gotten into one of the blood coolers, the one that hadn't been locked into the car. He found the car keys in Edward's tent. _Probably left them there while he went hunting. Wouldn't want to lose them._ He pulled out his cell phone. _Better tell someone; Alice, Carlisle maybe?_ Jasper stared at his phone. He couldn't bring himself to bear the news he had to bear over the phone. He put it away.

Back at the new Cullen house, the married couples had paired off. Each to a room, they claimed their new places. Alice stayed alone in the kitchen, avoiding her and Jasper's room, since she didn't want the empty space to sadden her. Alice sat and experimented with inducing a vision. It did not work.

Carlisle and Esme entered their newly furnished bedroom. "It's much nicer than the one in the last house, isn't it dear?" Esme said.

"Yes it is, but I miss the view out of the other window. Here we have only tree trunks and darkness. I can see several dead ones from here."

Esme exhaled a laugh, "As long as the wood in your pants isn't dead, I'm fine"

Carlisle smiled and said, "I like where this is going," and proceeded to kiss Esme. They parted briefly, Esme ripped her shirt off while Carlisle carefully unbuttoned his shirt. "I'm going to miss that shirt," he said.

Esme responded "You're going to be missing yours too if you don't get it off faster!" Carlisle unzipped his pants, then hopped out of them and his underpants in one bound. "Fast enough for you?" he retorted while finishing with his shirt at the same pace as before. Esme, completely naked, responded "Come here." Carlisle came to her and she stroked his sculpted his dick into a large exquisitely formed boner. He got on top of Esme and they joined as one. Carlisle started slow and started to pick up the pace. Esme said "Roll over. Let mommy go on top."

"Daddy is having too much fun here, maybe next time."

"Daddy said that last time. And many times before," Esme said as she pushed Carlisle over, annoyed. "Why do you always insist on missionary? After all this time? I'm getting sick of this!"

"Does my love bore you?"

"Anything is boring, given enough time. I wanna try something new!"

"I like what I like. I don't see the logic of changing things that work perfectly well."

Carlisle's cell phone started ringing. He immediately got up and answered the phone.

Jasper had finally called Carlisle. He asked him to come and bring an extra family member to drive the hunting party's car home. Carlisle was glad to have an excuse to leave and brought Emmett to the campsite. Jasper described what he'd seen to them in person, "Their camp is abandoned. I found a pyre where the remains of Edward and Jacob were immolated, as far as I can tell from the effects I found among the ashes. It's rained since what happened happened, so I can't trace anything relevant from here."

Carlisle looked meaningfully at Jasper, as if asking the unspeakable. "I found no trace of either Bella or Renesmee."


	16. Chapter 16: Bella's Man

Ch. 16: Bella's Man

Stefan walked down to the cell with a container of blood in hand to feed their prisoner. He opened up the feeding slot and saw Bella curled up, almost completely covered by a blanket, in the fetal position in a corner away from the door. Suspicious, he entered the cell, closing the door behind him. He walked up to and prodded Bella with his selfie stick. She turned towards him.

"Good," chimed Stefan nonchalantly, "you're not a fake head and stuffing under the blanket, and I don't have to search for where you escaped to." _I'm really channeling Damon with that one._ Bella blinked up at him.

"It's you?" She said failingly.

"Yes it is," said Stefan, "Damon is busy right now, so I'm feeding you today. What are you doing in the corner like this?" Bella gazed unblinkingly at Stefan for a moment before answering.

"He's your brother, isn't he?"

"Yes, that's not what I asked." Feeling certain that he wasn't about to get grabbed, Stefan sat down and moved the blanket. Bella cringed away from him and pulled the blanket back into place, but not before Stefan caught a glimpse of her torn and disheveled clothes.

"He's a bad man," snapped Bella, speaking as quickly as she could get the words out as if she loathed to utter them. She reluctantly dropped the blanket, "He did this to me," she shuddered on her feet in the corner, "He made me take him in like my husband." Bella began to beat her head against the wall.

Stefan stood in horror and pity for Bella's obvious distress. He set down the bottle of blood and gently moved Bella so that she was seated away from the walls. He saw that Damon had seen fit to remove her binding. From how Damon had described her type of vampire's strength, Stefan knew that Bella could probably beat down the door and escape, but she hadn't. He had to talk to Damon about it.

He spoke to Bella, "Bella, I can see you've taken to your new situation poorly. But what you've said of Damon can't be true." _I know he's done bad things before, but this is unlike him._ "He does like to compel sex out of people." _He likes to be able to pretend that his victim is there willingly, and torment himself with the falseness of that comfort._ "But he can't compel you to pretend you enjoy it, and he wouldn't bother with doing that to you if he had to put up with your objections."

Bella responded only with a vacant expression. "I know this is hard on you," continued Stefan, "but there's no need for you to harm yourself to get my attention." He picked up the blood and handed it to her. "I don't really want to keep you locked down here. I would really prefer for you to be on our side to prevent a greater escalation in the violence between your family and mine. Do you understand? This arrangement is extremely inconvenient."

Bella silently nodded. "Ok," said Stefan, "I'll let you think about what I've said, if you're willing to help me deescalate the violence, you can come live with us upstairs. I have to go now." He left the cell, closing it behind him. _I have some questions for Damon._

Bella sat where the good Salvatore brother had left her. She looked after him as he left. _I can't believe it. He's so noble, to love and support his brother through all this, despite all the bad things he's done._ She gazed longingly at the door. _I can't believe it. I think I'm in love again._


	17. Chapter 17: If They're Alive

Ch. 17: If They're Alive

Unbeknownst to Bella, at the same moment her best friend Alice's love returned to her. Jasper ran to embrace her. Alice squeed in delight and jumped into Jasper's arms. He immediately picked her up and carried her upstairs to claim their room. In a quick tangle of limbs, their clothes were off. Their joy eclipsed their grief.

In the anteroom below, Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie, and Emmett wallowed in their heavy sorrow at the certain loss of Edward and Jacob, and their uncertain loss of Renesmee and Bella. They were silent for a time, but then Rosalie spoke:

"For all we know, Nessie and Bella are still alive. I think we should get on looking for them."

Esme responded, "Since they haven't returned to us, we can assume that something has kept them. Are you certain that they are not incinerated on another pyre?"

"As certain as we can. Emmett and I searched the woods for miles around both the campsite and Jacob and Edward's pyre," said Carlisle. "We didn't find any evidence that either Nessie or Bella died. We also didn't find them alive."

Emmett continued, "I found several nearby roads; the closest town is the one Alice heard of in her vision, Mystic Falls."

"If they're alive, that's where they are," finished Carlisle.

"I should go bring in the blood they gathered," said Emmett. He left to take the cooler of blood out of the car. It had gone bad in the week it had been left unattended and Emmett dutifully disposed of it. Carlisle and Rosalie left the anteroom to try and find likely places for Bella and Nessie to be with Jacob and Edward's killer.

Esme approached Emmett as he poured the spoiled blood down the drain in the laundry room. She handed him a container of bleach, which he used to clean the blood residue out of the sink. Emmett left the sink with the ring trap filled with bleach for a few minutes to clear the residue entirely from the sink, before rinsing the bleach off his hands and the entire sink at once.

He turned from his completed task to face his lady Esme. Emmett gazed upon Esme and fell into her arms when she opened them for him. They kissed deeply; Emmett's hands wandered over her back, pausing to gently squeeze her ass. Esme held onto Emmett's hair with one hand, and slid the other around his body. The lovers slowly took off each others' clothes, and settled down on the floor. Esme straddled Emmett, gently pulsing up and down, coaxing his penis deeper and deeper into herself before riding him in earnest. _I get what I want._

"I love you," moaned Emmett, "We'll live forever together; one of my older brothers has died. Tell me I won't ever follow him."

"Darling," Esme sighed, "may you live as long as the Sun burns bright in the sky and there's life on Earth." _And never get tired of living._

Upstairs in their room, Jasper and Alice cuddled in the afterglow, warm from orgasm. "No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make myself feel this way by myself," said Alice, "no matter how many times I got to orgasm." Jasper shifted in bed to face her leaning on his elbow. Alice continued, "It also didn't trigger a vision like you though it might. Maybe they aren't facilitated by sexual pleasure."

Alice was almost immediately proven wrong when a vision came to her. Jasper recognized the signs of Alice's vision and waited for her to come back and describe what she saw to him. When she came to, Alice said, "I saw Bella. And I saw where she's staying. I need to tell the others." The two dressed and went to spread word of where Alice found Bella.


	18. Chapter 18: Another Vision

Ch. 18: Another Vision

They walked down the stairs, artfully negligently dressed, with Alice wearing a bright green vegetation-patterned moo moo and Jasper a pair of well-fitted black sweatpants and a white T-shirt. On the way down, they saw that everyone had dispersed, so Alice scribbled a note explaining where she saw Bella and followed her husband out of the house. They stopped for another lovemaking session in a glimmering meadow, with their marble skin sparkling beautifully in the sun. They returned to find everyone else ready to talk about Alice's vision.

"Welcome back, Alice, Jasper," said Carlisle, "I saw the good news."

"Yes," said Alice, "And I've seen more since. Both Bella and Renesmee are alive and are at the Salvatore Mansion in Mystic Falls." She took a breath and continued, "If anyone has their phone," Rosalie pulled out her smartphone. "Look it up," continued Alice.

"I found it," finished Rosalie.

"We're good to go then," said Alice. Carlisle glanced down at his phone and wandered off.

"We should begin by preparing ourselves for anything we might encounter with them. I have something to go and take care of with one of our contacts first," he said.

"What is it?" Rosalie asked.

"One of our forgers has expressed concern over a possible flaw in my medical license. The forger may or may not have misspelled the authority's name on my license; he caught himself making a similar mistake on another of his clients' product, and cannot positively recall if he had done mine correctly. We're meeting up for him to check his work. I need not explain the consequences should what he suspects be true." On that note, Carlisle left the room.


	19. Chapter 19: The Volturus

Ch. 19: The Volturus

Carlisle answered Caius' text-message summons. He went to the sketchy motel room as instructed, and found the man himself sitting on the bed. "Hello there, dear," said Caius. "Make yourself comfortable, you'll be here awhile. If you'd like, you can start taking things off."

"You know very well I participate unwillingly in your games." Carlisle sat down on the bed. "I have to get back home soon. Do what you want quickly." _I can't scrub the guilt from this out of my mind. He made me agree to forcibly shove a tree into Esme to spare the rest of the family his corruption. I believed I'd actually have to go through with the promise, but he laughed in my face. 'Psyche', he said, and dissolved into laughter. It was a month ago that this happened, and I still can't contemplate penetrating her without feeling a deep shame at my betrayal of her in intention._

"Aaaaw, that's no fun," wheedled Caius. "You're supposed to try and talk me out of it and give in after a solid attempt. I know I'm the asshole here; I want to make you do things you hate for my amusement. There's no satisfaction in it for me if you just cave like this."

"Too bad," flatly answered Carlisle.

"Very well, you win," said Caius, "no humiliation for you tonight. What would you like from me?"

"Very simply, I want this nonsense to end. Hand me the tape of the time we had sex. No more of this game."

"Whatever you say, Carlisle," went Caius. He got up and pulled a disc from an expensive-looking crocodile-skin briefcase, which he tossed at Carlisle. "There, now Esme shan't know of your impulsive indiscretion from this tape, 'Fuck your sexy power', indeed."

Carlisle didn't want to hear about himself in that moment of weakness. He snapped the DVD in half. The incriminating recording was gone.

Carlisle had something else to demand from Caius, "I also need information from you." Caius looked surprised that Carlisle was pushing his luck like this. "I have come into contact with another species of vampire."

"Oh," there was a look of wide-eyed awkward surprise on Caius' face as he spoke. "I may know something about this."


	20. Chapter 20: Rebekah's Love Lost

Ch. 20: Rebekah's Love Lost

As Carlisle and Caius spoke in the motel room, there was another propitious conversation taking place at the Salvatore Mansion. Rebekah relished the chance that had fallen into her lap. "I know all about the type of vampire you're talking about. In fact, I dated one once; he was a big player in their world. His name was Caius and we had an affair during the first outbreak of the Black Death in Europe. I called it off when he wanted me to marry him and join both our species of vampires under his rule." Rebekah shifted in her chair.

"I had two reasons for rejecting him: firstly, my father, whom Caius was unaware of, wouldn't have allowed him the political benefits he sought, but more importantly I just plain didn't want to be his dark vampire Queen. Even then I had enough hope for regaining a normal human life to make his proposal abhorrent to me." Rebekah noticed her audience's reaction.

"I can tell you're finding my life story exceedingly engrossing," Rebekah added sarcastically, "so I'll cut to the chase. Their species is nigh unkillable; they need to be completely destroyed with fire, preferably after having been dismembered. An Original can compel any of their species, but not a regular vampire."

"How do you know that?" Bonnie asked.

Rebekah looked annoyed at the interruption and continued, "when my relationship with Caius went south, I ended up needing to fight him and his minions with Klaus and our minions. I managed to compel Caius to slap himself at first, and he backed down from attempting to force me to marry him in exchange for my releasing him from my compulsion before I forced him to kill himself."

"Good times," said Bonnie.

"Some of them have special X-Men powers, too. If you're lucky, that will make them vulnerable enough to compulsion for you to compel them."

"Really," piped up Damon, "What kind of powers make them vulnerable?"

"The one I felt was extremely easy to compel had empathetic powers, but anything that makes them more receptive psychically could be enough." Rebekah got up from her seat. "That's enough, I don't want to get involved with the other species again. They're too inhuman." Stefan let her out the front door. He turned to his friends.

"What do you think of that, Nessie?"

"It gels with what I know, Stefan," responded Nessie, "of those you'll likely face, I think my uncle Jasper, aunt Alice, and grandfather Carlisle might be vulnerable to compulsion. I'm not sure how compulsion works, and can't guess between them whose powers could make them more vulnerable."

"Bella is definitely invulnerable to compulsion," added Stefan.

"And maybe the skill of the compulsor might also shift things in our favour," speculated Caroline.

"How in hell is this all supposed to come together?" Snarked Damon.

The discussion winded to a close. Stefan was the first to leave, "I'm off to let Bella out of the cell. She's agreed to join us and she seems sincere."

"I'll be off too," Damon responded. Damon left out the front door, and Stefan went deeper into the house. Bonnie said, "I need to get on finishing the enchantment of the Cold-One-killing blades I was working on." She got up and went to her task.

Nessie and Caroline stayed behind in the fireplace hall. Nessie reached out to Caroline, who accepted her advances as well as Bonnie had before.


	21. Chapter 21: My Little Heart is Broken

Ch. 21: My Little Heart is Broken

Not so far away in the same dingy motel room as before, Caius was still explaining his experience with Rebekah. Carlisle cut in, "I understand that this Rebekah broke your heart, but what does this story have to do with my situation?"

Caius broke from his reminiscent reverie and returned to the present. "They die from decapitation, sunlight, excoriation, and staking; they're vulnerable to the plant vervain, it burns them. Beware, they're cold and callous beasts. You can go away now."

Carlisle had what he wanted. He went home to his family. _He knows nothing that wasn't on the TV show's wiki. I suppose I have confirmed said wiki as a source, though. My humiliation is not wasted._ As he walked away, Carlisle wondered how of the other vampires, as seen on TV, related themselves as actual people in the real world.


	22. Chapter 22: The Most Loyal

Ch. 22: The Most Loyal

Damon walked to the tomb where Elena lay safe in her coffin. She was sealed inside of one of the niches recessed into the back wall. Damon stared at the niche cover. Its marker plate was inscribed with a fake name, Regina Helen Taeda. He read the epigraph: _Here lies my dearest / Asleep until Death wakes her / Return to me, Love._ Damon's eyes glazed over as he gazed at it. His mind drifted and he felt ashamed that he had betrayed how Elena wanted him to spend the time until she rose again at Bonnie's death.

"I'm sorry," Damon rested his hand on the plaque, "I wish I could do better to honour your love." He stood there for hours, completely absorbed in his grief for Elena. He mourned her in her quasi-dead state; its inevitable end no comfort to him.

Damon was shocked out of his reverie by the sound of the tomb's door opening behind him. An unfamiliar voice reached him, "Now, look at my luck. I was sent to scout the area around the Salvatore mansion and I have found exactly who I was looking for."

"What? Am I hallucinating?" Damon turned and faced the other. _He's definitely real. And one of the other vampire species. Fuck._ "Clearly not. Who in holy hell are you?"

"Full of questions now, are you? I take it you have learned from your experience killing first and asking questions later. You struck first, and your blow hit my wife." _So it's Jasper, then, married to the one with psychic visions, Alice. I take it she didn't like what she saw of me. What can I say, I don't like what I see of me either. And now the husband is after me for the wife's discomfort. Oh goody.  
_

"So you're here to avenge her honor," Sneered Damon. "Dragging me from my grief to deal with you." Damon stepped away from the wall as he spoke.

"I do believe that I have the moral high ground here," Jasper matched Damon's condescending tone, "my Alice told me something very interesting about you. She told me about a vision she had, where my darling saw you abandon the South." He was shouting by the end of this little speech. The two of them had drifted almost to the point where they could come to blows, but the last bit stopped them in their tracks. Damon stopped out of surprise, and Jasper to dig in his heels.

"Seriously? That's what you find so offensive about me." Damon's brow was furrowed with confusion and focus. "That I deserted the Confederacy. I killed two of your relatives and that's what pisses you off about me."

"I see that you have grasped the situation." Jasper squinted in confusion at Damon. _Why is he happy that I have such contempt for him?_

"So then, fellow deserter of the Confederacy, let's go mosey on outside and settle this like gentlemen." Damon cut off Jasper's attempt to respond, "I know your big asshole secret. You fucking amscrayed from your commission as soon as you were turned. None of your fangirls admit but I know it's true." They had gotten turned around over the course of the confrontation; Damon's face contorted in a momentary sneer and straightened himself as he uttered his final words, "shut your damn fuck ass mouth about my desertion you deserter."

Jasper lunged at Damon, who managed to avoid the attack and send Jasper flying out the door, splintering it off its hinges with a glancing blow on the way out. _Goddamn it, he's a way better fighter than the other two. I have to fight seriously now._ Damon vamp speeded out and on top of the tomb. He saw that Jasper had recovered and moved on to take the height advantage from him by scaling one of the nearby trees.

Loath to be outmaneuvered, Damon hopped up a tree himself. He swung to a tree closer to Jasper's. _Oh crap._ Damon was too slow. Jasper had just began swinging over from above to rip his head off when Damon threw his survival onto the mercy of Rebekah's halfassed speculation and attempted to compel him. _"Stop that,"_ Damon threw all his force into it. _"Do what I say."_

To his immense shock, the compulsion took. Jasper stopped the attack midlunge and fell to the ground. Damon shuddered briefly with relief. _I need to start practicing tactical tree-swinging maneuvers. He had me. I was really about to die._


	23. Chapter 23: The Confrontation

Ch. 23: The Confrontation

Stefan and Carlisle faced each other on the front lawn of the Salvatore mansion. Alice stood with Carlisle and Bonnie stood with Stefan. Each side of leaders was backed up by a distant line of the rest of their group. Carlisle spoke first: "Young man, I can feel that you want only the best for your family. But I want the same for mine. I have come to seek justice for the murder of my son Edward Cullen and his son-in-law Jacob Black from your brother Damon Salvatore and the safe return of both Renesmee Black and Isabella Cullen. Alice?"

"He's not here."

"If I might interject," said Stefan, "I know that Damon has wronged you very badly, but despite that I have to ask you to afford him as much mercy as you're capable of. I am responsible for his transition into vampiredom, so willingly or unwillingly I must accept part of the responsibility for his actions."

"And I want no less than that everyone who is not responsible for what happened remains unharmed," Bonnie added, "We all agreed that would be our first priority."

"One that you share with us," affirmed Carlisle. "But I must insist that you hand over Damon to me."

"I can't do that without knowing that he won't be killed," responded Stefan, "I respect your right to discourage vampires from harming you and yours by punishing Damon for what he's done, but I cannot in good conscience allow him to go to his death."

"Love the concern, brother," Damon called from within the woods. He walked out with a disheveled and slightly bloody Jasper preceding him into the open. _"Stop here now."_ Jasper stopped where Damon ordered him. "As you can tell, our kind of vampire has powers of compulsion. I can make your man here do whatever I want."

Damon paused for effect. "I can make any of you do anything I want. A fight between the two of us is futile. Isn't that right my similarly-empowered compatriots?" Called Damon. The Salvatores' supporters moved slightly closer to the negotiation huddle on masse.

Stefan stifled a slight smile at the development. He spoke, "It's good you confirmed this." He turned back to Carlisle, "I knew our powers of compulsion were effective on humans, but until now I was unsure of their efficacy against your type of vampire. Evidently they are effective."

Carlisle looked uncomfortable. He had only been aware of their powers of compulsion over mortals and clearly understood the tactical advantage of what he had been shown. "How do you propose we resolve this?"

"Good choice," Damon said. Carlisle ignored him and Stefan continued:

"Now that our situation has changed, I have something to show you." He signaled to Bonnie, who in turn signaled at a window of the Salvatore mansion. Nessie and Bella stepped out of the house. Carlisle was visibly relieved to see them in one piece. They approached the negotiators.

"These two ladies have some things to tell you," said Bonnie by way of introduction.

"Grandpa Carlisle," Nessie began, "I've learned so much about myself here with these people. I very much want to stay with them and build and independent life for myself."

"Nessie," answered Carlisle, "I would love for you to stay with me. Why do you want to leave all of your surviving family?"

"I want to start my own family. I would have liked to make a more smooth break, but what happened happened and I don't want to be cruel to you by returning only to leave shortly after."

Carlisle struggled with Nessie's answer for a moment before acquiescing, "If this is really what you want, I won't force you to return to me."

"It is what I want."

Carlisle turned to Bella, who had been listening and struggling with indecision. "Bella, even though I have lost my connection to you by marriage I feel no less attached to you. Please, come and live with us. I still think of you as part of the family."

Bella seemed swayed by this and willingly crossed over to Carlisle's side. With the messy business taken care of, Carlisle turned and left with his family. Damon released Jasper to follow Carlisle home and never return to try and kill him. Once all of the Cullen family who were leaving left, the Salvatore brothers and their friends went back into the mansion. Inside, they released a swell of giddy laughter. They had made it through without going through a battle and its inevitable deaths on both sides.


	24. Chapter 24: House Party

Ch. 24: House Party

As soon as could be arranged, Stefan and Caroline threw a house party to celebrate their deliverance. They invited all of their friends, who in turn invited their friends, some of whom were acquaintances of the various lucky friends of Stefan and Damon Salvatore. The party was loud and drunken. It drowned out the close call with death with overwhelming noise and life.

Stefan and Caroline agreed that they didn't want to pursue their relationship. Caroline had decided to go back to college and finish her degree and didn't want a relationship to interfere with her success. Damon participated in the festivities halfheartedly, but did not feel the need to wander off and mope, which Stefan took as an improvement.

Bonnie and Nessie celebrated Nessie's new independent life. She had just found a job and her own place to live outside of the Salvatore mansion. Nessie was effusive in her excitement over her new circumstances, and her charisma affected everyone present, buoying the atmosphere of the entire event.

Bonnie's satisfaction with her actions to bring this happy ending to life was evident, even if only some of the partiers were aware of this reason behind her mood. For all the casual acquaintances knew, the party was just to celebrate Nessie moving away from home.

Time passed and the revelry continued until only those initiated into the secret world of vampires remained at the Salvatore mansion.


	25. Epilogue

Epilogue

Back in the Cullens' new home, Carlisle was fuming. "I called one of Caius' retainers from the late Middle Ages. He knew the reach of of the other vampire species' mind control abilities full well and deliberately kept the information from me!" The rest of the family didn't respond. It was out of character for Carlisle to react so hotheadedly, so they went along with his knee-jerk reaction as if he were speaking with his usual cool yet compassionate insight out of habit.

Carlisle wanted a confrontation with the Volturi about Caius' lie of omission, and he got one.

Carlisle stood in front of Caius and the Volturi with his family inside of their new and beautiful house. Neither side had brought any of their supporters. They faced one another, and Caius spoke, "I could give you all another chance again to explain yourselves, but I've gotten fed up with your bullshit. This is the end of Carlisle-and-his-family-fucks-up-Caius'-immortal-life. Right now." He gestured to his fellow Volturi and they dispatched the entire Cullens family mercilessly. The Cullens' valiant efforts to save themselves were all in vain.

The guests gone and the Salvatore mansion quiet, the core group gathered in the main hall in front of the fireplace. They shared the personal revelations they'd had, and one by one paired off to make love. Caroline and Stefan were left by the fire, and there they said goodbye to their relationship. Bonnie and Nessie left together to give Nessie's room in the Salvatore mansion a proper sendoff.

Damon opened up Elena's tomb and lay next to her in her coffin. He pretended they were cuddled up tight in bed together, and was tormented with the falseness of his consolation. He kept up this macabre stasis until he couldn't stand it any longer. He slid Elena back into place, leaving both the coffin and its niche unsealed behind himself.

By the fire, Caroline lay Stefan down. They melted together for one final time, only to be jerked out of their reverie by the sound of the front door slamming shut. Klaus stood in the doorway looking on to them. For an instant, he was speechless with rage, but only for an instant. His handsome face was distorted into a horrible one by his emotion, and when he spoke, it was quaking with the effort of containing his desire to lash out.

"Caroline. I came to warn you and your friends off of upsetting my Rebekah over love lost and past, and find myself falling victim to the same pain you put my sister through. I love you Caroline. I can't stand for this dweeb to have his hands on you."

Klaus lunged and immediately tore Stefan's head off. Caroline screamed and Damon ran to the sound, only to be killed in the same fashion as his brother. Nessie rushed towards the noise from upstairs, and was caught unprepared in Klaus' murderous wrath. Unable to tolerate any retaliation for his actions, Klaus followed Nessie's footsteps upstairs to find Bonnie in the middle of casting a barrier spell to keep herself safe.

Unbeknownst to him in his rage-blinded state, Caroline had followed Klaus upstairs. She jumped in the way of his lethal blow aimed at Bonnie, expecting him to hold back his attack to preserve the object of his affection. Caroline was wrong in that assumption. The strike intended for Bonnie hit Caroline under her chin, sending her head improbably flying off. Further enraged by what his attack on Bonnie had cost him, Klaus finished his rampage by killing her with a vengeance. Klaus walked away; he would later come to regret overreacting the way he did, but far too late for anyone he had killed.

Elena came to inside of her coffin. She pushed open her niche and rolled herself out of it, like a corpse helping itself out of a coroner's refrigerated body drawer. She stood up, surprised to see the tomb so unchanged since she last saw it. _How strange, it must be at least fifty years since I was laid to rest here, why does it still look the same? Damon must have occupied himself with its maintenance to excess. He was taking my absence hard. This must have helped him cope._

Elena smiled at the inscription on her plaque. _So now I know what my new identity will be here in the future. I'm Regina Helen Taeda now._ As she walked through the graveyard to the Salvatore mansion, it became increasingly apparent to Elena that very little time had elapsed since she had been sealed in her coffin. She got worried about what could have happened that Bonnie was dead so soon. _I had such high hopes for her. I wanted to wake up decades in the future after Bonnie had died of old age in her nineties and attend her funeral with her numerous, happy grandchildren. What happened?_

Elena's question was answered as soon as she arrived at the Salvatore mansion. She stepped in to see the carnage left behind by Klaus' massacre in the main hall. The sight of it filled her with unimaginable horror. Elena shrieked and fell to the ground, sobbing and tearing at her hair. Almost, but not completely, overwhelmed by the shock and horror she felt it still occurred to Elena that if she was awake after this massacre, then Bonnie was among the dead. Not seeing Bonnie anywhere nearby, Elena followed the trail of bloody footprints tracked by the killer past the body of a young woman she didn't know. Elena spared a moment of grief for her before continuing to follow the trail.

It led her to exactly what she was expecting. Elena found Bonnie upstairs at the end of the trail of blood, where the footprints turn around and return downstairs. Barely registering Caroline's nearby corpse, Elena fell on her best friend's body, uncontrollably shrieking in wordless grief. Elena was overcome with a frenzy of destructiveness. She tore out chunks of her own hair as she wailed herself into losing her voice.

After spending an interminable duration in this state of abject suffering, Elena reverted to herself when she was last overwhelmed by all the bad things that happened to her. Elena ransacked the house until she found what she needed: some gasoline and some matches. Elena splashed the gas around the Salvatore mansion and lit it up to burn away her overwhelming emotions. She stood in the middle of the main hall, feeling ready to die there and be consumed by the fire with her friends and lovers.

A stray tongue of flame licked the side of her face and took away her resolve in an instant. Elena ran trough the fire and out of the mansion. Outside, she noticed a blade hidden as if for use in an anticipated fight and turned it on herself, expecting a less painful death than by fire. However, she did not anticipate how bad at stabbing herself she would be, landing only a painful and draining wound, not a merciful death blow.

Elena wandered aimlessly after that, unable to bring herself to either go to the hospital or attempt to stab herself again. She found herself, quite unconsciously, going to Wickery Bridge. Exhausted, and under the effects of the shock of finding so many of her nearest and dearest massacred, the smoke inhalation and the blood loss, Elena gazed over the edge of the bridge.

She felt attracted to the surface of the water. _This is where I should have died; with my parents and without all these years of supernatural danger behind me. I should have left my friends behind only to grieve me, and not to be dragged into my problems and be harmed themselves by them. Ever since that day, I've been a miasma, contaminating everyone I ever got close to me with the death I unfairly cheated._

"Here I am," Elena called to the water with all the meager strength she had left, "I've come to pay my debt." Elena cast herself off Wickery Bridge. She died in the water, like she would have without her connection to the Salvatore brothers.


End file.
